ALASKA- "Just the facts, Ma'am"

[Terry A. Brewer]

Alaska 2006.......RAIN,RAIN,RAIN,RAIN

 

[Jeff]

The trick is to follow the Brewers and Russ the following year. They had so much rain and clouds that there was hardly any rain left when we got there the following summer. 8)

 

[Ken & Sheila]

Maybe next year will be dryer. In 97 (our last trip) it was beautiful.

ken

 

[Kevin Means]

Terry...

Great T-shirt! I nearly fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard! I think all of you guys are correct - especially the part about preconceived notions. I can't wait to experience it myself - all from the comfort of my RV. Cyndi's still warming up to the whole idea, but she'll get there. And I have no doubts that she'll end up feeling exactly the way many of you described - tremendously glad she did it, with great memories,

I can't wait.

Kev

 

[Tom and Margi]

Now, really.  ;D ;D ;D  Reality check coming. 

If you go to all the trouble and expense to travel to Alaska through BC, Alberta and the Yukon, do you really want the weather to be just like Southern California, Southern Texas or Florida?  You need to earn bragging rights for visiting the last American frontier.  You need to struggle a little, people.  It's part of the charm!  Get that mud on your car!  Get your pictures ruined by rain and fog!  Freeze your assets off a little.  Earn that badge of courage.  ;D  Tell your grandchildren how brave you were. 

OK, tongue back out of cheek.  Sarge W and Marcia, I am so enjoying reading all about your travels and vicariously reliving our trip to Alaska.  Keep those reports coming!  You're both doing a super job.

Margi

 

[Tom and Margi]

Margi,
I don't think I have ever been disappointed in any of our RV adventures.  Much is attitude.  Can't control weather, so we live with it.  Some of my photos are better than others and some destinations beg us to come back on a sunny  day.  All of it is better than working!

Amen, Betty!  ;D  As in most human endeavors, attitude is everything.  Lucky us to have seen these sights, even if through blurry windshields.

Margi

 

[Jeff]

Betty:

You are right as always but my attitude is a lot better in the sunshine. 8)

 

[Marsha/CA]

Margi,

do you really want the weather to be just like Southern California

Yes!!! 

Just kidding. 

Marsha~

 

[BernieD]

When we RV'd to Alaska, Marlene was very disappointed.

I apologize to Marlene, it was a bad choice of words. The difference between cruise and RV was expectation, not disappointment. She was nowhere near disappointed with our Alaskan adventure.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's apparent that cell phone coverage has improved a lot since we did the Alaska adventure in 2002. And wifi was non-existent in AK or Canadian campgrounds back then.

At first we were a bit disappointed at the quantity of animals we sighted too, but we learned to get off the beaten path a bit.  A trip down most any side road found some sort of animal life. Moose were pretty common, and black bears fairly so. Otters or beaver in many waters too. Caribou took some hunting to see, though. Ditto for mountain goats and the big Dahl rams.  And didn't see any elk until we returned to Canada.

 

[SargeW]

We decided to drive to Border City, AK. A little spot 4 miles north of the Canada border. It's a little hole in the wall place, but it was convenient. Electric and water with a dump station for $20.  The name of the park is "Border City RV" and has a gas station. Naturally  they get lots of business at the gas station of folks just trying to make it across the Canadian border before buying gas.

But it was on the way to Destruction Bay that my little story comes from.  It had been raining from just about the time we left Border City. Either light or moderate rain, and mixed with plenty of road construction, it made for a wet messy day.  We were about 50 miles out from Destruction Bay coming down a long stretch of hilly road.  Many of the construction areas were short, maybe 50' in length, but were still just gravel and loose dirt.  Up ahead, just before the rise of a small hill it looked like maybe a bicyclist had laid his bicycle down in the middle of the lane that was coming towards me.  I was a little surprised, we had seen several people on bicycles, many extremely loaded with gear that would lay their bikes over as the kick stands wouldn't hold them upright.  But this bike was in the middle of the road, and just before a rise.  Any traffic coming over the hill would be hard pressed not to hit the bike. 

As we got closer I could see the rider appeared to be unloading the bike a little at a time.  As I got closer, I could tell that the vehicle was not a bicycle, but a fairly good sized motorcycle.  It was loaded to the max with saddle bags on both sides, and additional packs both front and rear.  The rider looked like he was moving around OK and was just trying to get the bike unloaded.   

I pulled up stopping next to him.  I opened my side window and asked him if he was OK.  He said he was fine, but he slid out on the gravel in the rain and with all the extra weight on the motorcycle, couldn't get it back up.  I didn't have a lot of room to pull over as the sides of the road were only about 2' wide, so I pulled up just past the motorcycle and over to the side as far as I could.  I put the emergency flashers on and set the headlights to brights.  The rider was still trying to unload the bike when I got there.  The bike was full onto it's left side, and looked to be a bigger BMW or something of that style.  The rider was about my size (at least with his riding gear on) but maybe just a bit older. He looked OK, maybe a bit shaken up, but still in good spirits. 

I used to own and ride a Honda Goldwing (about #1000 pounds) and a full size Harley (about #850 pounds) and have dropped both of them. Usually at a dead stop when your footing was not very good.  And if never fails, there is never anyone around to help you pick it up (and truthfully you don't want anyone around, as your pride is damaged enough).  So as I have done before, I put my back to the bike and crouched down and gripped the left handle bar and the saddle bag hook, and with a grunt, stood up with the bike. 

The rider was a bit shocked, "Oh my god, you must be a weight lifter!"  Well, yeah, but that's not why, I answered.  "I dropped a Goldwing a couple of times, so I had lots of practice".  Shortly after getting the bike up he wheeled it to the side of the road.  Within 10 seconds a Class C motorhome crested the top of the hill in the lane his bike had been in a few seconds ago. He smiled, shook my hand and as I walked away he called "Welcome to Alaska, the land of adventure!" 

I got back in the coach feeling pretty good that I had the chance to help somebody out. The rider got to continue on with his adventure, and that little spill will just be a ripple in his trip. 

By the time we got to Destruction Bay, the rain had pretty much stopped.  The rig and the Jeep are totally covered in mud from all of the construction zones we went through (pics). Some were several miles long.  The campground is really scenic, surrounded by snow capped mountains, and a right on the shores of Kluane Lake (more pics).  However, a few things you need to deal with to stay here.  There is only 15 amp power at the sites and it is supplied by a generator which runs all night.  There is a dump station on the way out, but if you have a bigger rig you may not be able to squeeze into the space allotted for the vehicle (I didn't dump when I left).  There is no cell signal, and the WiFi is free, but even going to the deck outside the office, it's pretty weak.  Direct TV was possible but frustrating because the 15 amp power kept dropping out. I have a Surge Guard on the rig that also has under voltage protection.  About 2-3 times a day the Surge Guard would kick out and the power would reset. This caused the direct box to start it's whole setup process again, about a 15 minute process. 

Oh,and then there was the bear thing.  When we checked in the lady in the office warned us about bears. OK, we have heard that warning before. But not like this one. She said that there had been 4 bears sighted in the campground this season (grizzly's).  And the last one happened just recently. A camper was out walking along the lake with his poodle on a leash.  He got to the far end of the campground when a grizzly bear came out of the brush and was staring at his dog.  The turned around and started walking back to the campground slowly at first (as you are told to do).  The bear was following him, closely watching the dog.  When the bear started getting closer, the guy panicked and started running, which also inspired the bear to start chasing him. Now the guy is yelling his head off, with the bear closing.  Fortunately a guy in an Airstream trailer heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. He saw the bear chasing the guy so he threw the door open and the guy dove into the trailer with the dog and he slammed the door.  About that time the campground owner (the lady at the desk) came around the corner yelling and waving her arms. The bear stopped, looked at her, and turned and wandered back into the brush. 

OK, so no long walks along the lake with the dog. 

We pulled out of Destruction Bay and headed to Whitehorse for the night. A chance to do some laundry, pay some bills, and catch up on the mail and see how the USA is doing in the Olympics.  Tomorrow we head for Skagway. Oh yeah, and there is an 80% chance of rain. Who knew! 

BTW, I love your T shirt Terry!  Pretty funny, as we were pulling into the campground in Whitehorse, there are several RV's already here. We passed by a 5ver on the way to our campsite.  Some one had written on the back window of the 5ver, which was caked with mud in large letters  "ALASKA- BEEN THERE".  It cracked me up. Diane took a pic for her travel blog. 

 

[Jeff]

Marty:

I remember the mud north of Destruction Bay. After getting the car cleaned we drove it and discovered a horrible shaking in the rear. Washing the wheels had removed the mud from the lower half of the wheels only.

 

[Jim Godward]

We have had our car and MH a lot dirtier traveling on interstates in the US from the slush and stuff from driving shortly after a snow storm.

 

[SargeW]

Exactly Jim! That's why we don't drive in the east in the winter either!  I heard about that too Jeff. When I took the Jeep to wash it the first time after driving up the highway I stated at the underside and worked my way up.  I couldn't believe the amount of mud and rocks that came off. 

 

[tonyandkaren]

If you're going back home along Route 37 (Cassiar Hwy - I highly recommend this route ) take the little side trip to Salmon Glacier. http://stewartbchyderak.homestead.com/files/salmon_glacier_1.pdf

It's an unforgettable sight! Fog might block the view of the glacier at the summit but you can drive farther down the road and get under it. The signs warning of avalanche danger are in place year round even when there is no danger and it's safe to drive farther along the road.

 

[Marsha/CA]

Marty we stayed at that "cute" little campground on Klune Lake and walked Charlie out back in the area you were talking about with the guy and his poodle.  Guess if we stay there on the way back, we better be a little more careful.  Charlie can outrun me and I'd be the grizzly's breakfast.

Marsha~

 

[SargeW]

Thanks for the tip T&K, we will check it out.

Marsha, boy no kidding huh?  You either need to get faster shoes or a slower dog.........

And speaking of bears (again) I for to mention in the previous post about a unusual sighting we had on the way to Whitehorse.  We were just approaching Haines Junction and heading up a small rise in the highway.  A vehicle coming towards us crested the hill and was flashing their head lights at us.  Realizing that there may some hazard in the road I slowed down as I approached the top of the rise. 

Coming over the other side I could see what he was flashing at me for.  On the side of the road on my side was a large brown bear. He was kind of standing there, looking up the road at us. I stopped the MH about 50' from the bear as not to frighten it.  That's when it got comical.  The bear looked at us for a few seconds, then walked out into the road, slowly.  He reached the other side of the road and stopped.  He turned around, and walked back to the center of the road, looked at us, and stood up on his hind legs!  He stood like that for 5 seconds or so.

We were astonished, it was like he wanted a better look!  Diane was frantically searching for her camera, as he slowly came down on all fours, and continued off in his original direction.  Diane managed to get a few pics of his exit, but we unfortunately missed his "pose". 

We got up and drove into Skagway this morning, what an awesome drive, even in the rain.  We passed through so many cool areas that we had not seen in Alaska before.  One looked a lot like a "moonscape" with the odd plants and sparse vegetation.

And, we finally ran into a reasonable border guard when we entered Canada two days ago.  Ready for the "third degree" of questions as we approached he threw me for a bit of a loop. He was friendly, business like, and made us feel that we were actually welcome in his country. Just when you think that you have these guys figured out..........

 

[Ned]

One looked a lot like a "moonscape" with the odd plants and sparse vegetation.

That was probably the Carcross Desert, the world's smallest desert.

 

[Tin man]

Hey Sarge

Was that horses in the background eyeing the bear?

By the way great pictures of the low stratus.

Hope the rain stops by next year..

 

[SargeW]

That was probably the Carcross Desert, the world's smallest desert.

Very close Ned, actually it was just past the Carcross Desert. That area is a sand dune area that looks REALLY out of place.  This area is actually described by the Mile Post as a odd "moonscape" area.  It is just before the landscape turns to alpine fauna. 

Good observation Jim!  Those horses were very interested in what the bear was doing.  And shortly after the pic, they turned and took off the other way.